Sponsorship Proposal: Melbourne City Football Club - Admission/Application Essay Example

SPONSORSHIP PROPOSAL By Student’s Name Institution Course Prof Date Executive Summary Melbourne City Football Club is pleased for the opportunity to present this sponsorship proposal to FOUR’N TWENTY. Melbourne City Football Club is a soccer team that has been playing for the Australian A-league competition for a considerable long period. The Club was founded in 1960s and started as a small football team for the local youths in Melbourne City. In 1970s, the club continued to grow and winning some local leagues in the city. In 1983, the Club played for the first time in the national A-league competition. However, due to financial and other challenges, the Club was not consistent in the league throughout the 1980s decade. In the following decade, it got a number of sponsors who funded the club activities, and the opportunity allowed the club to excel in the Australian A-league competition. The clubs has been the A-league champion for about six times and have won numerous other domestic leagues. The sponsorship opportunity will contribute hugely to the success of the club. In the past three years, the initial main sponsors have withdrawn due to their personal reasons. As a result, the club has been struggling with financial constraints in the recent years. This sponsorship will support the development of the club by providing the fund required to meet the daily expenses and other expenses. The sponsorship will also strengthen the soccer industry in the country as Melbourne City Football Club is one of the most popular clubs not only in Melbourne City but in the entire country. Lastly, the sponsorship will enhance jobs opportunity and youth development in the country. The club has employed a significant number of people in addition to the players. Therefore, the sponsorship will ensure that the job of these employees is secured. The sponsorship will not only benefit the Club but also the sponsors. The program provides an opportunity for FOUR’N TWENTY to connect with the large number of its consumers around the country. Melbourne City Football Club is popular club all over the country. Therefore, the sponsor will have an opportunity to connect with the club’s supporters where they can advertisement their products, attract customers and create a good image as a company that is interested in the development of the young and the entire community. The club is seeking a financial sponsorship of about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Cover Letter 20th May 2015 Mrs. Jane Appleton CEO FOUR’N TWENTY 7th Street, 75 Southern Building Victoria I am writing this letter to introduce Melbourne City Football Club and its future plans and to invite you to consider this sponsorship proposal. This sponsor will provide an opportunity for the Melbourne City Football Club to grow and continue to perform excellent in the A-league competition. Melbourne City Football Club main sponsors have withdrawn in the past three years leaving the club facing some financial constraints. As a result, the club is looking for a sponsor to replace the departed sponsors and enable the club to continue with its operations. Melbourne City Football Club participates in A-league in the country that beginning on June every year and end on March the following year. The club has twenty three players, two couches and seventeen employees working in different aspects of the club. In addition to the major league, the club takes part in another two leagues: a domestic league and a regional league in the area. However, much of the effort is geared towards winning the A-league in the country. Melbourne City Football Club is a popular club in the country and beyond. It has millions of domestic fans and is a significant number of fans in the outside the country. In Melbourne City, a large number of the people interact with the club in one way to another. As a result, the club is well connected with the people and it can help connect your company with the costumers in the country and beyond. The players meet for three days every week at Bundoora next to La Trobe University for training. Ordinarily, the players meet on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from training purpose. Most of the A-league is played on Saturday, and the club plays at the AAMI Park Stadium on the home marches. The clubs also regularly takes part in community activities in the city and other parts of the country mostly on Mondays. The club draws supporters from all part of the country, and this present the main benefits which the sponsor will leverage from the partnership. The sponsor will have the opportunity to increase their brand awareness, media exposure, and public relations activities. It is also an effective form of advertising the sponsor’s products in the country and beyond. Sport property Melbourne City Football Club has been a dominant force in the A-league in Australia for the past three decades. The club dates back in the 1960s when it was founded to take part in local Melbourne City league. However, by 1980s, the club had made its way to A-league in the country. After a decade of financial constraints and leadership issues, the club stabilized in 1990s and has gradually become a big force in the league. It has won 9 titles, 16 domestic leagues and a number of 2 leagues. For the last three decades, the club has been managed by three managers who have speared reforms and success in the club. The managers have focused on building a club of young and talented players from every part of the country (Fullerton 2010). Melbourne City Football Club has clear and well-outlined objectives. The goal of the club is to become a dominant football club in the country and consequently enhance growth of football in Australia. In order to achieve this goal, the objectives of the club are to remain a competitive club in the A-league, win more fans in the county and beyond, and continue looking for more talented players in the country. The Club has the capability to achieve these objectives and produce and club that is popular in the country and beyond. The club comprises of young talented and energetic players. Most of these players have been in the club for many years and have gained the experience necessary to meet the require objectives. Currently, the club is trying to reach out other talented players in the city and from other parts of the country to come and reinforce the club performance. The past and the current managers have been strategic in implementing different policies in the club. The club has won the title twice in the last past five years. However, there is a need to reinforce the club as there is ever-increasing competition from other clubs in the A-league who are also in the pursuit of the title. The club also needs to increase their support for the young in the country and beyond. In addition, community project will increase the connection and network between the club and its fans or supports in the country. Lastly, the club intends to increase its presence to countries abroad. In order to attract supports from the other parts of the world, the club intended to increase their competition to the regional leagues. These key issues will enable the club to gain regional supporters rather than domestic supporters only (Mullin & Sutton 2000). Promotional plan The major event for the Melbourne City Football Club campaign is to win the A-league title. However, winning the title will be the climax of the numerous promotional activities that will be undertaken by the club from the beginning of the season to the end. The activities include promoting the Melbourne City Football Club through media and magazines, restructuring of the club internal organization, increasing community activities, engaging the clubs fans and increasing the club competitiveness in the other domestic and regional leagues. The next league season commences on 5th June 2015. This date will usher in the beginning of the club campaign and the promotional activities that will run to the end of the season in March 2016. First, before the stated date, the club will restructure its internal organization to allow more young and talented players join the club while the old and experienced players will be working hand in hand with the new and young players. Football supporters are always looking forward to see new young and talented player join their club to bring in the rejuvenated image in the club. Therefore, the restructuring of the internal organization will be meant to achieve two objectives. First is to increase the club competitiveness in order to be a title challenger during this season. Second, the restructuring will serve to meet the supporters’ expectations (Mullin & Sutton 2000). The second promotion activity which the Melbourne City Football Club will use is brand promotion. The main goal of this campaign is to see the Melbourne City Football Club become a dominant club in the Australia and beyond. In order to achieve this, the club will engage in different brand promotions activities in the country and beyond. First, the club will increase its presence in most parts of the country through different community activities such as magazines and media coverage. The club will take part in different community activities such as young mentorship programs, environmental conservation campaign and community education among other volunteering community work. These activities will increase the club presence in all parts of the country hence a brand promotion for the club. Second, the company will cooperate with other organizations both private and public that provide different services to the community. This will further promote the Melbourne City Football Club brand name. Brand promotions will start on August and will continue to the end of the season in March 2016. The third promotional activity which Melbourne City Football Club will use is maintaining contact and engaging their fans in the country and beyond. Gaining fans loyalty requires a club to demonstrate that they value their contribution in the club. In addition, a club needs to make their fans feel as part of the club through engagement and maintaining communication with them regularly. Melbourne City Football Club will engage their supporters through different functions such as community work and taking parts in different activities which will allow the club officials, players and other member of the staff to communicate with the supporters. Additionally, the company will use social media, and other communication means to engage and share with the supporters about the current and future programs of the club. The climax of the promotional activities is wining the A-league title. This will occur in March 2016 when the league will come to an end. The club has put every measure to ensure that they withstand the stiff competition from other teams in the league. It is only through winning the league that supporters feel that they have been rewarded for their support towards the club. In addition, winning the title will increase the popularity of the club. Therefore, most of the activities will be geared towards this major event that will take place in March next year. The club intends to be a challenger in the other two leagues in which they participate. Although these leagues are not a major focus for the club, winning the regional league will give the Melbourne City Football Club brand a regional image. Communicate benefit The sponsorship has two packages namely level 1 and level 2. The two levels have different benefits, and it’s up to the company to determine which level they will prefer. The benefits include: Level 1: Sponsor Package ($ 50000-100000) The sponsor will be recognized during the major events of the campaign such as during the opening day of the league season in June and during the main event at the end of the league season. The sponsor’s logo and name will feature often in the clubs activities such as during major events and major game matches. The sponsor will be allowed to provide their products to the fans inside the stadiums during all the matches The sponsor will sell 25 percent of the clubs tickets. The sponsor will produce some attire to be used by the players during community activities. Level 2: Sponsor Package (&$100000-150000) The sponsor logo and name will always feature along the club name in all events, matches and activities. The sponsor will organize the events during the beginning of the league and the major event at the end of the league. The sponsor adverts will feature prominent during the club matches All the club’s electronic format and webpages will contain not only the sponsor’s name but also a link to the company to allow people to learn more about the sponsor. The club sporting attires and jersey will bear the name of the sponsor. The club will advertise the sponsor in all the community activities through dressing attires that bear the companies names and logos. The sponsor will accrue to all the benefits in the package one. The sponsor will sell forty percent of the club ticket. These tickets will bear the name of the club, the sponsor, and their logos. The company will have the right to name some of the events conducted by the clubs such as the league opening and closing events. The two levels present an opportunity for the sponsor with achieves a number of objectives. First, the company will have the opportunity to increase their brand awareness in the country. Melbourne City Football Club is a popular team that draws supporters from all parts of the country. Therefore, the sponsor will get an opportunity to come in contact with the large of the customers which would become their customers. Therefore, the elements in the package allow the company to increase the company’s brand. Second, the elements provide the company with another form of advertisement that is of its own kind. Television adverts, posters and newspaper advert have become too common means of advertising products, and they are gradually losing their efficiency as a form of advertisement. The elements in the two packages provide a sporting marketing opportunity which has become an effective method of advertisement in today’s world. Therefore, the elements provide an opportunity for the company to change their form of advertisement. Sporting marketing is an effective form of advertisement and will increase the sponsor’s products penetration in the Australian market which is one of the sponsor’s objectives. Lastly, the elements provide an opportunity for the sponsor to enhance customers’ loyalty through increased public relations activities and web exposure. Melbourne City Football Club will part in numerous public activities throughout the campaign period. The sponsor has an opportunity to take the part in these activities through the clubs activities. In addition, the club has a large web exposure and association of the sponsor with the club will provide the sponsor with an opportunity to increase their web exposure. The large web exposure coupled with the increased public relation activities increase customers loyalty. Creative Leverage There are numerous benefits that will accrue to both the Melbourne City Football Club and the FOUR’N TWENTY Company as a result of the partnership. The Melbourne City Football Club objectives this season strategically fit with the FOUR’N TWENTY Company. Therefore, there are plenty of benefits for the club and company to capitalize on in order to achieve their objectives in the partnership. The sponsor has gradually grown over the year in the country attracting customers from different parts of the Australia. However, the stiff competition in the market and lack of effective marketing methods has been a barrier to the penetration of the company in the country. The goal of the company is to become the dominant firm in the food industry in Australia. In order to achieve this, the company has a number of objectives to achieve. First, the company has to increase their market penetration and strengthen their brand. Second, the company needs to enhance customers’ loyalty in order to retain the customers. These two objectives will see the company become a dominant force in the food industry particularly in provision of meat pie. On the other hand, Melbourne City Football Club objectives are to become a dominant force in the football industry in the country and increase their popularity. In order to achieve these objectives, the club needs to buy more talented players, increase their community and ensure that the staff members are paid accordingly. The company does not have this money to fund all these activities. However, it provides an opportunity in which an organization can reach out more customers, increase their brand awareness and enhance customers’ loyalty. Therefore, the partnership of the club with an FOUR’N TWENTY will result to mutual benefits. Apparent, the sponsor will provide the funding required by the Melbourne City Football Club to achieve objectives. The fund will be used to buy new young and talented players, paying staff members and meet other expenses throughout the campaign period which run from June 2015 to March 2016. The campaign will see the company become a dominant force in the football industry drawing supporters from all parts of the country and beyond. The reorganizing of the club and the buying of new, young and talented will increase the competitiveness of the club in the A-league and hence placing the club as a title challenger. Winning the title will mark the end of the campaign and it will be the major events as it will further increase the popularity of the club. On the other hand, the sponsor has an opportunity to achieve their objectives through the partnership. First, the club campaign provides an opportunity for the sponsor to increase their brand awareness which is an essential aspect of a company with the goal of becoming a dominant company in the market. Melbourne City Football Club is a popular club that has supporters from all parts of the country and the popularity will increase in the coming season as the club launch a campaign that aim to see the club win three trophies by the end of the season. The sponsor can capitalize on this opportunity to increase their brand awareness to all parts of the country. The sponsor has a chance of increasing their public relations activities and media exposure which could increase their market penetration. Melbourne City Football Club game matches are all covered in television and the people all over the country follow up the games. In addition, most of the major events and community activities are also covered in different media in the country. In social media, the club is constantly interacting with their supporters who follow the club’s activities through online means. The sponsorship will present the sponsor with the opportunity of increasing their exposure thought the club media coverage and public relations activities hence enhancing the sponsor’s products penetration and customers’ loyalty. Budget Investment This section outlines the expenses and the sources of the fund required for meet the financial requirement from the beginning of the campaign in June to the end in March 2016. The sponsor if willing to take the sponsorship will be considered as the major sponsor and the benefits stated earlier will accrue to the sponsor. Although there are some discrepancies expected, the estimated budget is & 250000. The figure could rise or fall, but the magnitude of the change is expected to be negligible. The budget can be further described in the following sections. Expenses Cost ($) Buying new players 40000 Salaries 33000 Promotional and advertising 20500 Equipment 20500 Apparel Cost 20000 Travel 17500 Food 10500 Team Cost 16000 Coaching costs 30000 Community activities expenses 21000 Other expenses 14000 Float 7000 Total 250000 Apparel Sales 40000 Club Dues 30000 Fundraising Events 20000 Individual donations 30000 Grants 30000 Sponsor 100000 Total Revenue 250, 000 The club will raise fund from clubs dues, apparel sales, fundraising events, sponsorship, individual donations, and grants. The apparel sales include all jerseys sold to the fans and the public, in general, sales sold to the sponsors, clubs’ vests, jackets, T-Shirt, and shorts. These products will be sold throughout the season. The sponsor jerseys will be of high quality and will be sold at relatively high cost compared to the jerseys sold to the fans and the general public (Theodoraki 2007). Fundraising events will also be used to raise fund required to finance various expenses of the club. The League opening event will be the major fundraising event. During the event, the all the attendants will pay for the entry fee. There will be more events that will be organized at different moments of the campaign to raise funds. Some of the events will include the club day and the fans day where different individuals will be invited and will be required to pay some fee in order to take part in the events. In addition to the fundraising events, the club will raise fund through the sale of the tickets. The tickets will be sold in every club game match (Kahle & Riley 2004). Grants and sponsorship will constituent the major sources of the club finance. Currently, the club has three minor sponsors, and the club is in search of a major sponsor who will become the club major financier. The club also expected grants from government and different organizations who are determined to see the football industry in Australia continue to grow year after another. On the other hand, the large amount of fund will be used to buy new players at the beginning of the season. The cost is estimated to be $ 40000. In addition to buying the players, they need to be paid every month for their services to the club. There are other members of the staff that also need to be paid. This becomes the largest expense which the club needs to meet. Other major expenses include the cost of buying equipment and promotional and advertisement costs. The transport of the players to away games and other events is upon the club hence has to be budgeted. Other expenses include the cost of the buying food, coaching cost, registering for the league and the costs incurred when the team will take part in community activities. Inventory of Assets The sponsorship manager will be in control of a number of assets which will be geared towards the meeting the potential sponsor’s needs. The manager will have the freedom to use and manipulate the assets to meet the specific need of the sponsor (Kahle & Riley 2004). The assets can be categorized into three packages namely package 1, package 2 and package 3. The package one comprises of the basic assets which the club will provide to the sponsor manager. They include: Event components such as location, dates, venues and primary elements Audiences such as membership, volunteers, Board On site such as stages and recognition Hospitality such as VIP areas and admission Connections components such as events database and mailing lists These are assets that will be available for the sponsor manager to use to promote the sponsoring company. Most of these activities are available for the sponsor when they want to organize a meeting to promote their products through Melbourne City Football Club. Package two comprises of more involving assets that most of them will be at the sponsor manager in the case of the second level sponsorship package. They include; Becoming partners in creating engaging media coverage Making club adverts and posters Partnering with the club in writing and reviewing the club magazines and other published materials. the manager will have the control of the company websites and other electronic materials The second package provides more opportunities for the sponsor managers to utilize to achieve benefits for the sponsor. The manager become in control with the most of the communication assets such as club magazine, clubs webpage and media coverage of the company. The sponsor, therefore, has a high opportunity to achieve their objectives using the assets. For instance, they can increase their exposure in the club websites, magazine, and web-design. The third package of the assets gives the sponsor manager much more assets to utilize to achieve the objective of the sponsors. In addition to the elements in the first two packages, the control manager will have the following assets: The sponsor manager will have the right to control the stadium for their benefit The manager will have the right to name and design the club jersey and other sporting attire of the club. The club community activities will be named and scheduled by the sponsorship manager. The design of the club tickets and the interior and exterior parts of the stadium will be at the disposal of the sponsorship manager. The manager will be in charge of the club social media and design of the club electronic devices. In the third package, the manager will have the right to change some aspects of the stadium in order to align them with the sponsors’ objectives. For instance, the manager can include the name of the sponsor along the initial name of the stadium. The interior design such as the naming of the sits will be at the disposal of the sponsor managers. The sponsor manager will also determine where the club will take part in community work and the manage can choice the place that will have the highest benefit for the club. Lastly, the manager will design the tickets, social media for the club and the club jerseys and other attires such as club’s vests, T-shirts, Jackets and shorts (Pitts & Stotlar 2002). References Buhler, A., & Nufer, G.,2009, Relationship marketing in sports. Oxford: Butterworth- Heinemann. Davis, S., & Exploratorium, 2009, The sporting life. New York N.Y: H. Holt. Graham, S., Neiratti, L.D., and Goldblatt, J.J., 2001, The Ultimate Guide to Sport Marketing. McGraw-Hill, New York. Fullerton, S., 2010, Sports Marketing. McGraw-Hill, New York. Johnson, P.,2008, Ambush marketing: A practical guide to protecting the brand of a sporting event. London: Sweet & Maxwell. Kahle, L. R., & Riley, C., 2004, Sports marketing and the psychology of marketing communication. Mahwah, N.J: L. Erlbaum Associates. Irwin, R.L., Sutton, W.A., and MC.Carthy, L.M., 2002, Sports Promotion and Sales Management. Human Kinetics, Champaign, Illinois. Mullin, B.J., & Sutton, W., 2000, Sport Marketing. Human Kinetics, Champaign, Illinois. Pitts, B.G., & Stotlar, D.K., 2002, Fundamentals of Sports Marketing. Fitness Information Technology Inc.: Morgantown, West Virginia. Theodoraki, E., 2007, Olympic event organization. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Read More